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Happy New Year

Greetings All, hope you spent an enjoyable turn of the year last night.  It
was very quiet in our neck of the woods, just a few fireworks - I think
everyone was either in Edinburgh at the Hogmanay Ceilidh there, or sat at
home checking their bank accounts to see if they had any money left for the
sales :-).

We have been having really unseasonable weather the past couple of months,
mild and wet - we have had well over a third (10") of our total annual
rainfall (26") since November, no snow to talk of and some strong winds. 
The current forecast is for another wild storm to hit us this afternoon -
we lost our phones at Christmas during the last one, but kept our power. 
Hope the fates are as kind to us today!

The mild weather is a real pain, I count on the cold to kill off the
whitefly and spidermite!  As they are still proliferating (not a bad word
for New Year's Day) I am in a bit of a dilemma, spray or not to spray?  The
combination of low light and damp plants can be fatal, but then again, so
can an excess of bugs.  I am trying to kill the pesky things just by wiping
them off, but that only just gives a minimum of control... Maybe I should
be out doing a snow dance?  It has been so mild, that my newly
pruned-for-the-winter Oleander has got big new buds on;  several Abultions
are putting out flowers despite being cut back hard and a couple of
kalanchoes are also flowering.  My Amaryllis are all in bud as is the
jasmine - they are much earlier than usual.  Of course, the AVs are still
flowering as are the Christmas Cacti.  

I think the best part of this time of year is the anticipation of Spring -
now if I could only find a way of by-passing January and February I would
be content :-)

Happy New Year, and Lang may yer lum reek... (Old Scots for Long may your
chimney smoke - a greeting to wish someone luck and prosperity.)
Liz Bradbury in a green, wet and windy Scotland.
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